Growth in the Shadows
by JackieStarSister
Summary: A one-chapter character study of Amon, including his transformation, his impressions of other characters, and his thoughts during the series.


**Author's Note:** I know I should be focusing on updating "Finding What You Weren't Looking For," but I wanted to post this before the new season of _The Legend of Korra_ starts, and before I get caught up in schoolwork. I'm just starting college, and classes start tomorrow! Anyway, this is my attempt at exploring Amon's thought process during the series. I'm working on a companion piece focusing on Tarrlok in the same way, but that still has quite a way to go. For now, I hope you enjoy this conjectural analysis.

* * *

"Growth in the Shadows"

Whenever a thing of this sort occurs, it is serious. Suffering engenders wrath; and while the prosperous classes blind themselves, or fall asleep, which also closes the eyes, the hatred of the unfortunate classes lights its torch at some morose or ill-formed mind dreaming in a corner, and begins to examine society. Examination by hatred, a terrible thing. ~ Victor Hugo, _Les Misérables_

"Far be it from you to do such a thing, to make the innocent die with the guilty, so that the innocent and the guilty would be treated alike! Should not the judge of all the world act with justice?" ~ Genesis 18:25, New American Bible

* * *

Noatak's decision to leave was not sudden, but rather premeditated. During those periods he had spent brooding in solitude, he had really been contemplating his situation and weighing his options. He thought about the Avatar's power, Yakone's unconcealed hatred, the idea of revenge, power, and fairness. He sometimes came up with more questions than answers.

He wondered at how his father had become the person he was now, and how he wanted his own past to become his sons' future. He thought about leaving, learning from different teachers, finding other ways to use his power as a waterbender. What good was an exceptional ability if he wasn't free to use it as he chose?

He wanted answers, and knew that he would have to search for them.

Bloodbending Tarrlok was what finally prompted Noatak to act. It was almost effortless for him at this point, but using the ability on his brother was entirely different from using it on animals. He could see so clearly the pain it caused Tarrlok. Noatak may have relished the power, but that day, he finally understood why Tarrlok seemed to hate it so much.

Then it was Tarrlok's turn to bloodbend, Noatak's turn to feel the pain. But Tarrlok refused. It was the first time Noatak could remember seeing his brother defy Yakone. That was good; it meant they could stand up to him together, so Noatak wouldn't have to stand on his own.

He stepped in when it seemed Yakone was going to severely punish Tarrlok, who wasn't going use bloodbending even to save himself. Noatak turned on their father, finally showing him how it felt to be subjected to another person's bloodbending. And Noatak finally revealed that he wanted more power, and the freedom to use it as he chose.

He cast their father aside, and then asked Tarrlok to come with him. Even though he was younger and saw the situation slightly differently, Tarrlok was the only other person who shared his situation. They could help each other. But he was too afraid to leave home, too strongly tied to their mother, who knew nothing of her family's secrets. So Noatak left alone, finally going after a future that wasn't set up by his father. He could form his own future now.

* * *

Noatak spent years traveling between the nations, visiting universities in Ba Sing Se and even in Republic City itself. He learned about the legendary Avatar, who by then was approaching the end of his life.

He learned that Avatar Aang had defeated Fire Lord Ozai, not by besting him with bending martial arts, but by taking his opponent's bending away. So Yakone's story had not been entirely unique. When Aang couldn't beat a skill, he removed it. Ultimately, that made him more powerful than any kind of bender.

While researching the Hundred Year War, Noatak read a short legend about a masked vigilante known as the Blue Spirit. His reputation was puzzling: he had committed crimes against both Fire Nation officials and Earth Kingdom civilians. At one time he had stolen—or rescued—an imprisoned Avatar Aang, depending on how one viewed the situation. Those with power abhorred him; those without it feared him. He was a mysterious force to be reckoned with.

At first it was mostly a romantic fancy, but the idea grew on Noatak, the notion of creating a new identity to replace his old one. He certainly didn't want to be known as Yakone's son, or even as a waterbender from the still slightly primitive Water Tribe.

Through books and court records, Noatak learned a little more about bloodbending. He couldn't find anything about its workings, but he was able to read about its origin and its current place in the law. The new knowledge was built on what Yakone had already taught him: Master Katara, the Avatar's wife, had lobbied to outlaw the practice. As a result, no one had dared to study it, much less share knowledge about it.

Noatak imagined his father fighting the Avatar. The bloodbender against the bending-taker.

The idea came to him gradually, as the image of the two men remained fixed in his mind: what if the two abilities could be combined?

He decided to study healing, including the effects of chi-blocking on a bender's body. Usually, the damage was temporary, and the healing could be accelerated by using waterbending as a catalyst.

Chi flowed through the human body, which could be subjected to bloodbending. It was complex, dealing with a person's body, mind, and possibly spirit.

The more Noatak learned, the more he was convinced that there could be a way to permanently block a person's bending, essentially taking away their ability.

* * *

Tarrlok was the reason he created the alias Amon, when he started taking the first steps to form the Equalist movement. Noatak, now an adult, heard about the Northern Water Tribe representative on the Republic City Council. That was when he realized that at some point they would fight on opposite sides.

Tarrlok would recognize him if he used his given name and printed pictures of his face in the newspapers. He could reveal to the world that Noatak was a waterbender and a bloodbender. That would never do. Noatak must remain lost—he had left behind that identity in that blizzard—he must create an entirely different persona.

The name that he chose, Amon, meant "covered" or "hidden". It seemed only fitting when he donned a mask to hide his former identity and assume his new one.

The mask was an object of his own design. It was as pale as the moon. The mouth line was serious, neither smiling nor frowning. The face gave the impression of looking down upon someone. His followers thought the expression was solemn and stoic; to his enemies it would appear cold and sinister. It was perhaps the creation he was most proud of. When he started recruiting followers, it would become an icon.

The sob story he told, about losing his family and being scarred by a firebender, wasn't his own story. But the thing about it was, it was not unique. In his travels he had met, and heard the sad tales of, many people who had suffered pain or loss inflicted by benders. Never mind that the motive wasn't his own; he adopted it, made it his own.

He justified his deceptions, by remembering that he wasn't doing this for himself. He was doing it for others. He was doing it for the world.

Non-benders needed a leader to rally them and organize their efforts. If they wanted him for their leader, then so be it.

* * *

Gathering followers was a slow and arduous process. The number of Equalists had to be kept small in the beginning, with a select few chosen based on their loyalty, conviction, and power.

Hiroshi Sato had sought out the Equalists very early on. He had his own vendetta against benders, to avenge his dead wife and protect his only child. He promised that he would be useful to the Equalists, and Amon believed him; after all, Sato's wealth and access to the means of production would be instrumental in developing weapons and transportation.

Sato mentioned that he had a daughter, who was proficient in self-defense and familiar with his technology. He explained that, for her safety and their security, he meant to keep his Equalist status a secret from her; but once she was old enough to know the truth, she might join them as well.

Amon chose his Lieutenant as his right-hand man, after witnessing his fearless fighting and resilience. He didn't know the man's story any more than the Lieutenant knew Amon's. The Lieutenant was reliable, but also naïve. He was an idealist—in fact, most of his Equalists were.

Amon, too, had ideals, but he knew that the path to reach them would require sacrifices. He sacrificed the use of his own bending, only utilizing his power on occasion to further remove the cursed ability from the world. And unlike Avatar Aang, he was willing to sacrifice his own morals for the sake of the world. Even if it meant staining his hands with crime, he would do it, for the greater good.

After the United Republic of Nations, they would target the Fire Nation, where the ruling family still consisted almost exclusively of firebenders. He had learned in his studies of history that bending was what had enabled them to maintain power—just another example of "survival of the fittest".

Amon was practical and thorough. He planned to have the revolution in stages, over months and years of slow, steady progress.

Only one person could possibly get in their way.

* * *

In every generation, the Avatar was revered for his or her bending abilities. The fact was that the Avatar was the most physically and spiritually powerful person in the world.

And yet, the person called the Avatar had failed the world, in one lifetime after another. Avatar Roku hadn't been able to stop Fire Lord Sozin from launching a colonization campaign and effectively starting the Hundred-Year War. Avatar Aang had delayed ending this war for a hundred years, allowing millions upon millions of people to lose their homes, their loved ones, and their lives.

And now, a new Avatar had been born, and was growing up in the Southern Water Tribe.

It was during the absence of the Avatar that the Equalists were able to plan and organize and concentrate forces.

Amon knew it was inevitable that they would meet. Either she would seek him in trying to quash their revolution, or he would find her and take her bending away. The irony seemed somehow fitting—Avatar Aang had taken away the father's bloodbending, and now the son would use that forbidden technique to take away Avatar Korra's bending.

Her early arrival to the city was potentially problematic. At her press conference, one reporter even had the audacity to ask if she would be fighting against the Equalists, who had just started to emerge as a publicly-known group.

It would hurt their cause, if benders had a hope, a leader, to rally around once the war began. But she was hardly a leader now. She even admitted that she had yet to complete her training. Amon knew that meant the longer they waited, the more powerful she would become—physically and socially. They would have to begin now, before she became a fully realized Avatar.

He chose his words carefully when he mentioned the Avatar in his speech. Part of him almost hoped that she was there to hear him; it would have felt satisfying to spell out to her what damage her beloved abilities could inflict.

He didn't really believe she was there, though. Not until the Lieutenant shouted out to them who had disrupted the Revelation and rescued one of the benders. He came out just in time to see the white blur of her polar-bear dog turn the corner.

The Lieutenant was more than willing to give chase. After all, capturing the Avatar _was_ an eventual plan. But Amon called them off. "She is the perfect messenger to tell the world of my power."

That was the next part of the plan: increasing their celebrity (or notoriety), inspiring hope in their supporters and fear in their enemies.

* * *

Maybe Amon and the Avatar were more similar than either of them would admit. They both had to contend with others'—mainly their mentors'—expectations of them.

They did have one thing in common, a sense of righteousness and even of self-importance. But even that similarity held a subtle difference: Korra's was based on pride, while Amon's was full of conviction.

She saw herself as high and mighty and powerful. She was still able to believe that good and evil were separate. Only Amon understood that the two forces existed but were mixed, both in society and in the individual.

She didn't understand. That made him almost pity her.

Amon was not surprised when Avatar Korra announced that she would join Tarrlok's task force. If anything, he was surprised that she hadn't done it sooner. He might have wondered briefly if she was only taking action against the Equalists because that was what everyone expected of her.

This thought was expunged when she publicly challenged him to a fight, trying to confront him directly. She wanted to assert her own power over the situation—over him.

Perhaps working with the task force had given her a dangerous sense of confidence. She was more than bold; she was positively reckless. That was her truly tragic flaw.

She didn't know what she was getting herself into.

Amon could not simply ignore such a challenge; doing so would show weakness, and imply a victory on the Avatar's part.

He would face her. But he wouldn't take her bending yet. People would be much quicker to defend an unfortunate girl than a damned criminal. But he would teach her that he was a force to be reckoned with, not overlooked or underestimated.

He stayed hidden in the shadows, while his Equalists attacked and apprehended her. He waited until she had stopped fighting, had given up struggling. Then he stepped into the light and let him see her.

Of course Amon knew what she looked like, from her pictures in the newspapers that the Lieutenant had collected. But this was the first time he saw Avatar Kora face-to-face.

She wore her hair in three ponytails, just as he had in his youth. She was tall and strong, though at the moment she was paralyzed and restrained. She looked at him with wide eyes, though when he approached she closed them and turned her face away, as though bracing herself.

She was afraid.

She really was a child. Which made it all the more foolish for her to have made such a challenge, to think that she stood a chance against him.

He left her with a promise. She would witness his removal of bending from the rest of the world, realize to what extent she had failed; and then he would face her, and she would meet the end she so feared.

He left her unconscious, with full awareness of how mortal and vulnerable she really was.

* * *

Threatening the tournament presented a win-win situation. If the Council complied with Amon's demand, it would signal to the city that things were changing, that politicians recognized the Equalists' power, and benders were no longer to be regarded as heroes.

If they defied him, the Equalists would make them look like fools, and demonstrate the true magnitude of their power.

It was a political statement, to show how many of them there were, how widespread the revolution was at this point. Equalists were ordinary people, living among the non-benders of the city, barely distinguishable from the rest. The bending tyrants couldn't stop them.

The Lieutenant knocked out the Avatar's team and made sure they would stay out of the way. Amon had decided not to take their bending (yet), to instead focus the spectacle on the Wolfbats who had cheated their way to victory. It seemed more justified, as much of the audience was outraged by the way they had cheated during the game. That meant even more non-benders—even ones who had enjoyed watching Pro-Bending—might sympathize with the Equalists.

While the metalbenders, the Wolfbats, and the Fire Ferrets were incapacitated, Amon revealed his plan to establish a new order of government based on fairness. "For years the Equalists have been forced to hide in the shadows. But now, we have the numbers and the strength to create a new Republic City! I'm happy to tell you the time for change has finally come. Very soon the current tyrannical bending regime will be replaced by a fair-minded Equalist government. You and your children will no longer need to walk afraid. It's time to take back our city."

They broke the arena's glass roof and blew up the ring to give them reason to shut down the venue, ensuring that there would be no more pro-bending matches anytime soon. Amon and his chi-blockers were almost safely in the zeppelin, when the Avatar somehow followed them. He never knew how she made it into the air over the roof; all of a sudden she was firebending at the chi-blockers and knocked a few of them off the platforms below Amon. She held onto the cable to steady herself, and then looked up at Amon.

Their eyes met, and both of them had to decide whether now was the time to fight directly.

Avatar Korra seemed to think so; she sent a blast of fire up at him, but Amon easily stepped into the blimp and avoided the flames.

Now was not the time. But he could leave her knowing that she, and the police, and the Council, had lost this battle.

* * *

In his office, he had profiles of their enemies, assembled by the Lieutenant.

There were articles about the Avatar's Pro-Bending team, the Fire Ferrets. The Lieutenant recognized the bending brothers as the boys whom he had fought after the Revelation. "The earthbender was one of the Triple Threats we captured," he explained. Amon remembered the stuttering, timid youth who had been last in line on the stage. He was the one the Avatar had rescued; that fact made him wonder if her friends would do the same for her.

They soon had an "in" for the Avatar and her friends: the Sato family.

Hiroshi consulted with Amon before offering to sponsor the Avatar's Pro-Bending team. Apparently Asami Sato had befriended the team's captain, and might consequently become acquainted with the Avatar herself.

It might be risky, having the Avatar in contact with an Equalist, but it could also work to their advantage. So Amon told Hiroshi to go ahead.

The timing of Cabbage Corp's framing was key to keeping the trail off of the true Equalists. The police were more intent than ever to track down Equalists, so they left a false trail for them to follow.

Then, the Avatar's affiliation with the Sato family backfired: she was present to overhear Hiroshi speaking on the phone with his contact. Sato handled the situation well enough. They were prepared for such an extensive search by the police. There was nothing nefarious to be found in Future Industries' factories.

But if they were so determined to find answers … now might be the most opportune time to apprehend the Avatar, Councilman Tenzin, and the esteemed Chief of Police, as well as a slew of metalbenders.

The plan was devised quickly, and carried out within hours of its inception. Amon waited in the underground headquarters until the trucks arrived, delivering the benders whose power he would take.

They came later than expected, and Amon knew at once that something was wrong, as Sato and the Lieutenant came out of the drivers' cabs. "Well?"

"We caught most of Lin Beifong's police force. Other than that … things didn't go quite as planned," the Lieutenant said flatly.

Amon narrowed his eyes at them. "What happened?"

"You should ask _him_ that." The Lieutenant glared at Hiroshi Sato. The man looked considerably older, more disheveled, and there was a hopeless anger in his eyes.

"Well?"

Sato grimaced, and his words came out with great difficulty. "My daughter—not only did she decline to join me, to join the Equalists; she went so far as to _aid_ the benders. She left with them."

Amon glanced at the prisoners that the chi-blockers were unloading, and saw who was missing. "That would be the Avatar, Councilman Tenzin, and the Chief of Police?" Sato nodded. Amon turned and paced a few steps, folding his hands behind his back contemplatively. "So she has chosen to make herself an enemy."

Sato bit his lip. "Amon … sir." He was struggling to sound reasonable and calm, to choose the right words, to sound persuasive. "I lost one member of my family to benders. I don't want to lose another—the last one I have left. If we encounter her with the others—will you allow me to save her?"

Amon bowed his head slightly, indicating that he was considering. Sato went on, "If I could get her to understand, what it is we're doing … I still think she could help us. Or at least I could convince her not to hinder us."

Amon turned around to look at him again. "You are fortunate that she is not a bender. We have no issue with her. When we capture the others, she will be returned to you."

Sato knew that was the best answer he could have asked for. He bowed to his leader. "Thank you."

* * *

Besides the capture of a dozen metalbenders, the only good thing that resulted from the raid on the Sato mansion was that it prompted Lin Beifong to resign as Chief of Police. But even that proved detrimental to the Equalists, as her replacement, Saikhan, was weak enough to give in to Councilman Tarrlok's whims regarding how to fight them.

Tarrlok was a fool. Didn't he realize that his renewed oppression of non-benders would only increase support for the cause he was trying to destroy?

The true irony was that he was abusing power, just like his—their—father, only from the side of politics rather than crime. It didn't matter what side they were on; Tarrlok had become the kind of man Yakone had wanted him to be.

The thought made Amon feel pity for him.

The last straw came when Tarrlok claimed that the Equalists had attacked City Hall and captured the Avatar. Tarrlok couldn't be allowed to spread lies intended to make people hate and oppose the Equalists. He would have to be dealt with. And, maybe, it would be a way to save Tarrlok from himself.

Amon saw his chance when he learned that their network had been infiltrated by the same benders whom Hiroshi Sato had failed to capture. The guard that the firebender boy interrogated had told them that Tarrlok was lying, and heard Tenzin's deduction that Tarrlok had taken Avatar Korra prisoner.

Tarrlok would have to flee, now that his coworkers knew the truth about him. So when he left Republic City, they followed him, tracking him from a safe distance, knowing that he would lead them to the captive Avatar. Now they could kill two birds with one stone.

They waited until Tarrlok had entered the house before driving the truck up next to it. When they entered, he wasn't on the main floor, but they could hear his voice coming from the basement. A moment later, he came up the stairs, and saw Amon flanked by the Lieutenant and three chi-blockers.

Tarrlok was understandably surprised, but then smirked. "You fool. You've never seen bending like mine."

Then, for the first time in his life, Amon felt what it was like to have his own blood bent.

Here was proof that no one could be trusted with bending. Tarrlok had once abhorred bloodbending and swore never to use it; and here he was, using it to hurt people for his own selfish purposes.

The Lieutenant and the chi-blockers fell at once, but Amon was evenly matched—if not more powerful. He managed to continue walking forward, to Tarrlok's horror. "What—what are you?"

He spoke the truth that lay at the heart of his revolution, the movement he had begun that centered on him. "I am the solution." Amon didn't hesitate; he simply did what he knew he must do. Ultimately, it was for Tarrlok's own good.

Amon chose to carry the semi-conscious councilman out himself, while the others apprehended the Avatar. He knew there was a chance that Tarrlok would recognize his bloodbending, having experienced it as a child. He would have to handle Tarrlok himself, and keep him isolated, so that if he did deduce Amon's identity, he couldn't reveal it to anyone else.

He had just put Tarrlok in the back of the truck when he heard sound coming from the house, and turned in time to see the Avatar herself burst out the door. She saw him as she landed in the snow; even from a distance he could see her pause, frightened again.

Surprisingly, she didn't try to fight him. Perhaps she had learned better; or perhaps she wasn't in a good condition for a battle, after being imprisoned for a whole day. In any case, after bending some ice spikes to impede him, she ran from him.

He could have caught up with her, slid down the slope by bending the snow and ice; but he knew he couldn't risk letting the others see him waterbending.

She was almost as elusive as he was.

Almost.

* * *

He wasn't going to kill her. Not that he _couldn't_; he believed he was capable of taking a life, especially if it was for the greater good. But if he killed the Avatar, there was still a chance she would become a martyr to the rest of the world; and then the Avatar would be reborn as a bender, and could rise up against them in a decade or two.

No, it would be better if Avatar Korra lived a long life without bending, while they Equalized the rest of the world. And it would destroy her pride, her spirit, to have to live as the fallen Avatar who had let her people down.

He would force her to watch as he Equalized all the benders, including the ones dearest to her. Lin Beifong was just the start. She was followed by Saikhan and the remaining metalbenders, three Council members, and the White Lotus sentries who fought the Equalists while Korra and her friends escaped. (Afterwards, the Lieutenant swore he would one day have that polar bear-dog's hide for a rug; he gave no further explanation, and the other Equalists didn't comment on it.)

Next would be the airbenders.

They thought they were even more special than most benders, because they were descendents of the last Avatar, and the last remaining benders of their element.

Tenzin's children were young, and thus far innocent. If their bending was taken away at their tender ages, they could grow up with as little chance of corruption as possible.

The rally would serve a dual purpose: Amon would rid the world of airbending, and hopefully he would draw the Avatar out of hiding. Since she had infiltrated the Revelation, she could very well do the same at this rally.

He doubted that she was truly "on the run". She was most likely still in Republic City, hiding, waiting for a chance to fight back. They had switched places, that was all.

* * *

He had vowed—even to her, and in front of some of his chi-blockers—that he would save her for last. But when she called him by his given name, and tried to denounce him, and freed the airbenders, Amon decided that this was one promise he would have to break. He had to be realistic, and not save the most glorious victory for the finale. She had to be eliminated, immediately, because—loath as he was to admit it—she was a threat, in more ways than she was even aware of.

First—the reason that he had known all along—she was a leader in the movement _against_ the Equalists.

Second, she could expose him as a waterbender and a fraud.

Third—though this was mostly hypothetical—it was possible that she could learn to take away a person's bending, and if she did that, she could take away his waterbending.

She had to be stopped.

He told his Equalists to focus on getting the crowd out of the Arena, while he went after the Avatar and her accomplice.

_You can't hide from me anymore_.

He knew she was hiding in the gymnasium; he could feel the water in her blood close at hand. But he paused, and turned as though to leave, letting her think she was safe.

Then he struck.

It was true that he had used bloodbending in the process of taking people's bending, but this was the first time he'd used bloodbending at its fullest extent. For a moment, he relished the control he exerted over the young Avatar.

The firebender fought, almost valiantly, in her defense. For a fleeting moment, Amon was reminded of another confrontation in which he had used bloodbending.

_Stay __away__ from him._

_ Let—her—go!_

He forced the boy to watch, unable to do anything to stop him. The firebender needed to see that no one could stop him, not even the Avatar.

It may have been the greatest moment of Amon's life, and was probably the worst moment of Avatar Korra's, when he stood over her and took her bending away. His mask hid his smug, darkly triumphant smile. "I told you I would destroy you." He knew he'd taken away the biggest part of her identity.

His euphoria ended when the Lieutenant stepped in, having seen the whole encounter.

For the moment he released the Avatar from his bloodbending grip; there was no need, with her bending gone and her energy drained. He approached the firebender, ready to take his bending as well.

Amon wasn't sure how it happened, but somehow the boy managed to control his body, move his own chi, enough to shoot lightning from his fingertips. The shock of electricity and impact from the crash knocked him out for a minute, long enough for the boy to carry the incapacitated Avatar out of the room.

Amon was angry, an emotion he had thought he would no longer have at this point; but he was also impressed. The firebender had intelligence as well as control over his ability.

On the other hand, the fact that the firebender was so powerful and clever meant that he was even more of a threat. So Amon bloodbent him again, banging and bruising him against the walls and floor, before putting him in position to take his bending. The determination was gone from the boy's face, replaced by raw fear.

"NO!"

The next thing he felt was a gust of wind that sent both him and the firebender back. It had come from the Avatar, who was somehow on her feet again.

_What are you?_ That was what Tarrlok had asked him; and now Amon found himself wondering the same thing of this person. She wasn't in the Avatar State. She probably wasn't even the Avatar anymore. But now—somehow—incredibly—she was an airbender. She sent blasts of wind that pushed him further down the hall.

He tried again to stop her, focusing his bloodbending on her. But she glared at him, and managed to send a final kick of air.

He blacked out at the sound of broken glass. The next thing he was aware of was sinking in water.

Instinct kicked in, a combination of survival and waterbending. He didn't think, he just did as he'd learned long ago, creating a cyclone that lifted him to the surface.

It wasn't until he had air in his lungs again that he realized his mask was gone, and that the crowd of Equalist supporters was still assembled outside the arena, and that he was in their sight.

It was justifiably the strangest moment of his life, balancing at the top of the water cyclone, realizing how many people were seeing him—truly seeing him, without his mask, devoid of his mysterious persona. Some of the astonished expressions turned to ones of anger.

"He _is_ a waterbender!"

"The Avatar was telling the truth!"

Amon looked up and saw the Avatar standing with her accomplice in the window he had just broken. Their eyes met, and the expression on her face was dark but somehow triumphant. It was a look that clearly said that the fight was over.

She didn't beat Amon because she had any superior skill. All she did was trick him into waterbending in front of all his followers.

She didn't defeat him. When it really mattered, he caused his own downfall.

She had won.

* * *

Amon fled, knowing there was nothing else for him to do. No quality or quantity of public speaking could gain back the multitude of supporters he had lied to. No sane person would trust someone who could fabricate such an extensive lie.

He turned to Tarrlok partly because he was the only other person who the Avatar had ruined. Their shared past had been exposed; neither one could continue his charade. They had nothing left—except, perhaps, each other.

Amon knew Tarrlok must have told Korra that they were related; but neither of them didn't mentioned it. Amon did apologize—more or less—for taking Tarrlok's bending away.

Even though he had lost everything, Amon couldn't help feeling optimistic. He had his brother back, which meant he wasn't alone anymore; there was one person who knew the whole truth about him, and that felt strangely liberating.

He knew that without his supporters, his dream of equalizing the world was over. But in a way, he had done at least part of what he set out to do. He had brought to light, at least to some people, the tyranny of benders over non-benders. Surely he had caused some—benders and non-benders alike—to recognize the truth of his words, and question the system, and realize that there could—should—be another way.

He had made a mark on Republic City, on its people and its history. Surely if he was remembered for his actions, he would also be remembered for his ideals. Maybe someday they would be realized, even if he wasn't there to witness it.


End file.
